Success or Mess Scratch Soup – Hearty Chicken Soup

This is one of the best chicken soups I’ve tasted. It started with a really great pregnancy resource (The Pregnancy Cookbook – you can learn more about the author and find a book link here http://www.hopericciotti.com/). Of course, I made changes to it over the years to fit my family’s tastes. But, it remains a great go-to soup and it’s perfect when you crave a warm bowl of home cooking.

Hearty Chicken Soup with Greens

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

1 Onion, peeled and chopped or diced

5 Cloves of Garlic, minced or thinly sliced

5 Carrots, peeled and chopped

5 Celery ribs, chopped

1 Tablespoon Kosher Salt

1 Bunch Kale or Collards, rinsed, stems removed, and leaves chopped (you can also use other greens such as dandelion or spinach)

4 Yukon Gold or similar Potatoes, cleaned and chopped about 1/2- to 1-inch pieces

10 Cups Chicken stock

Meat from 1 cooked rotisserie chicken, chopped or pulled how you like (keep in mind that if you pull in small strips, it can cook apart even more when reheated)

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Egg Noodles or other pasta noodles, prepared and set aside

We like to keep the egg noodles or other pasta on the side and add when serving. It keeps the noodles from getting too soggy when you chill and reheat the soup. And there should be enough for leftovers depending on your family’s size.

Directions:

1.    Heat oil over medium in a large soup pot.

2.    Add the onions and sauté about 7 minutes.

3.    Stir in the garlic and let it get fragrant for about a minute.

4.    Add the celery, carrots and salt. Stir, cover and cook about 10 minutes.

5.    Add the greens and potatoes, and stir to mix. Cover and cook about 7 minutes.

6.    Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes.

7.    Add chicken, salt and pepper to taste, and simmer with the lid off another 7-10 minutes.

8.    Stir in cooked noodles and simmer a couple minutes before serving. Serve and enjoy!

By the way, our house is coming along. At least the barriers, equipment and crews are gone. We just finished another big part of the project this week. It will be a welcome sight when everything is back in its place and we can relax again – well, as much as we ever do. It’s been a lot of hard work and we’re nearing the home stretch. :)

Stuffed Eggplant Recipe

I thought a recipe for stuffed eggplant was in order after the previous post. Here’s one for Stuffed Eggplant Parmesan from allrecipes.com that is worth a try.

Ingredients

                        2 tablespoons olive oil

                        2 medium eggplants, cut in half lengthwise and hollowed out to 1/4 inch flesh rim

                        1/2 cup chopped onion

                        2 cloves garlic, crushed

                        1 teaspoon dried oregano

                        freshly ground black pepper to taste

                        1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

                        1/2 cup bread crumbs

                        1 teaspoon chopped fresh Italian parsley

                        2 cups tomato sauce

                        1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).

Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Roughly chop eggplant centers, and add to pan with onion, garlic, oregano, and pepper. Cook and stir until lightly browned. Spoon mixture back into eggplant, and sprinkle each with Parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and parsley. Place in a shallow baking dish, and cover with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until eggplant is fork-tender and cheese is bubbly. Serve immediately.

Girls’ Night & Stuffed Eggplant

Yesterday was a girls’ night out, which is rare these days. It was just after 3:30pm when I realized the day was almost gone and I was not ready – not even close. There are many days when I get so busy dressing, feeding, cleaning and caring for my kid that there’s no time left to care for myself. Moms and caregivers, you know what I’m talking about. The thought hit me that if I didn’t start something soon, there was no way I’d make it to my long-awaited dinner. It takes a lot to fit something into our busy and constantly changing schedules. I knew it could be months before I got the chance to see them all together again – and I needed this.

Fast-forward through the quick rinse and hot roller coercion of second-day locks to getting dressed. I will spare some of the details, but understand this, it’s hard enough to prepare for a night out when you’re not pregnant and harder still when you’re in one of those transitional times between elastic waists and needing a front- or back-end loader, just to get into your clothes. After some time wondering why the weather had turned on me when I’d already planned a late-summer/early fall outfit, I gave in, dressed for cooler temps and threw on some make-up.

By the time I finished, checked my look in the mirror. I knew I’d made it in time, but feared I looked like a stuffed eggplant. Not the look I was going for. A little mane taming and some accessories did the trick – mostly. Thank goodness my husband said something nice when he got home or I might have ended up wearing a trench coat. Instead, I went with what I had and made the most of it.

My friends and I had a wonderful time catching up. They were a lot of fun and so gracious to listen to the home improvement saga. It will be nice to see them again, but if it’s any time soon I may have to steer clear of brown so I don’t look like a roast turkey. J

Potato Soup & The Big Mess

The third soup I made was a creamy and indulgent potato soup. I used a little more bacon than originally planned, and maybe a little more cream, but the flavors blended so well we polished it all off in just a couple days. The best part was dunking in fresh bread and sopping up all the goodness. 

The soups, so far, are part of the success. But, the home project is really a mess with plenty of stress. As it stands, we are in week two of the project that just doesn’t seem to have an end. I am so ready for this to be over so we can move freely through the house, and get the kitchen table out of the office – where we cram ourselves each day in an attempt at a real family meal.

At least the soup was finished before the construction so I could report it now. I’m not sure what soup, if any, will get made this week. Would you settle for a take-out soup teaser? Yeah, me either. We may just have to put off soups and stews until I can use the kitchen again.

Are we done yet? Humph!

Let's Tear Down - still!

I keep thinking that if we just focus on the finish line, maybe we'll get through this. It's getting annoying to have to unzip plastic every time we want to get anywhere in our house. I cooked the first pan of anything in the kitchen yesterday, and wouldn't brag since it was only canned soup, but it's been days since that happened so I'm considering it a win. 


Are we done yet? Closer... :)

Let's Tear Down & Success or Mess (can you guess how it's been?)

Today is day five, I think. They’re all starting to run together. I can say that we got over the demolition hump and are starting to notice a difference. We’re happier now that we hit the halfway mark and survived (at least we think we did). Now, we finish the day strong and see what the next one holds. May all your home improvement projects be quick and under budget. (Yeah right, like that ever happens, but it’s something to shoot for!)

Ok, in the midst of all the work happening at our house, I forgot to mention the Second Helping of Success or Mess – a delicious Turkey Chili.

It’s a hearty chili with lots of delicious flavors and perfect for a fall day! When we pull ourselves together a little more, I can share the details. Trust me, the soup looks so much better than the house right now!

Let’s Tear Down! The saga continues…

Day three lasted so long that we landed right smack in the middle of day four. A few nails refused movement. Turbulent fans and splitting wood echoed through the house, but we’re a day closer to the finish line – and I only lost it once. That I can recall. We’ll make it as long as we hang in there together. 

Let’s Tear Down! – Day #2

Last night I went to get a snack and realized we can only access the fridge…Okay, so I had a yogurt (not bad) even though I really wanted cereal. No biggie. But, this morning when we got up and wanted breakfast, well that was it. We needed a plan or the plastic around the pantry was going down. So after we ate fast food for breakfast, I felt much better. The urge to take a baseball bat to the room before we finished eased up. At least a little. We’re being extra cautious during this tear down and installation, so I shouldn’t complain. Even though I really want to. It’s smart because of our little one and the one on the way. It’s just obvious that all the build up to this point has taken time, and now that we’re beginning, it feels like it’s been forever since we started so we just want it finished!

At least I could enjoy a dance class with my little one this morning – before the pre-lunch breakdown we both had about toys, tempers and food. Thank goodness there was leftover soup in the fridge (and cookies) because, if I had to make one more stop she would have lost it, I would have lost it, and we’d have never made it home. Ah, the joys of home improvement!

So, we made it through lunch, the little one is resting, dad is working and I’m about to run yet another errand for something that isn’t fun like books or clothes. But, we’re doing it to help get through this project, which should be finished in just a few more days.  Excruciating. Maybe someday, we’ll look back at all this and laugh – or maybe we’ll just forget the whole thing and move on. Either way, I know we’ve started, I know it will end (I hope), and we just have to help each other get through it and realize we’ll be glad we did this before the baby comes…

“Are we there yet?”

Let’s Tear Down!

It’s day one of the deconstruction I mentioned in a previous Success or Mess post. Things could get interesting so let’s see how it goes as the house gets turned upside down. Right now, it’s only three hours into the project and we’re doing our best…

Is it too early to ask, “Are we done yet?”